Life & Letters

Correspondence

About this Item

Title: William T. Stead to Walt Whitman, 7 January 1890

Date: January 7, 1890

Whitman Archive ID: loc.04333

Source: The Charles E. Feinberg Collection of the Papers of Walt Whitman, 1839–1919, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Transcribed from digital images or a microfilm reproduction of the original item. For a description of the editorial rationale behind our treatment of the correspondence, see our statement of editorial policy.

Contributors to digital file: Blake Bronson-Bartlett, Ian Faith, Breanna Himschoot, and Stephanie Blalock



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The Review of Reviews.
Edited by W.T. STEAD.
Telephone No 2841
Burleigh St, Strand.
London.
7 January 1890 .

Walt Whitman, Esq.
Camden New Jersey
U.S.A.
Sir,

I forward you by this Mail advance copy of the "Review of Reviews"1 a publication which as you will see, has the approval of the Leading Statesmen and Men of Letters & Science, in the Old Country.

I am anxious to put in the second number a similar series of letters from the Leading Americans and I ask you if you approve [illegible] the general idea of the "Review of the Reviews" to be so [illegible] to post me a line stating your view of the matter which I could reproduce in fac-simile

I would specially call your attention to the article "To All English-speaking Folk" on Page 15.

I have the honor to be
Your obedient servant
William T. Stead


Correspondent:
William Thomas Stead (1849–1912) was a well-known English journalist and editor of The Pall Mall Gazette in the 1880s. He was a proponent of what he called "government by journalism" and advocated for a strong press that would influence public opinion and affect government decision-making. His investigative reports were much discussed and often had significant social impact. He has sometimes been credited with inventing what came to be called "tabloid journalism," since he worked to make newspapers more attractive to readers, incorporating maps, illustrations, interviews, and eye-catching headlines. He died on the Titanic when it sank in 1912.

Notes:

1. The Review of Reviews was a magazine begun by the reform journalist William Thomas Stead (1849–1912) in 1890 and published in Great Britain. It contained reviews and excerpts from other magazines and journals, as well as original pieces, many written by Stead himself. [back]


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